Out of the two appeals I filed with the Supreme Court (SC) against the judgments of the Commercial Appellate Court, after an unusually long wait and various manipulations ( Appeal 1 ), it was published yesterday on the court’s portal that one of the appeals was rejected (judges Branko Stanić and Tatjana Miljuš presided).

The process leading to this publication was also unusual, as the decision made by the judicial panel in October was contested by the judicial practice department because, in the same legal situation from 2013, it was ruled that the City of Novi Sad, due to failing to fulfill its contractual obligations, must pay compensation (albeit halved compared to the expert’s opinion). This ruling became part of judicial practice, so there was no reason to rule differently in the same legal situation for the period not covered by the 2013 ruling (the contract was valid until 2021). Additionally, the Law on Contracts and Torts is clear: anyone who causes damage to another person/entity, has to compensate it.

There is also a second appeal in process ( Appeal 2 ), with a decision expected soon, and what I expect is that the second judicial panel (judges Jasmina Stamenković, Tatjana Matković-Stefanović, etc.) will follow the law and judicial practice.

Perhaps now is the time for that, because it is clear from the entire legal process that this is about the seizure of my well-designed investment, ATP “Vojvodina,” which also had valid documentation that no other station in Serbia possesses. From 2007 to 2012, there was litigation; since 2012, with the arrival of SNS to power as the largest domestic investor with capital of questionable origin, I have suffered political persecution in which the top of the government is involved. The judges of the Supreme Court have succumbed to this pressure.

It is known in Novi Sad and the wider public that the investment I put my 50 years of work into is being seized through bankruptcy, which was managed by the sister of Governor Jorgovanka Tabaković, judge Slobodanka Komšić, where the estimated value of the bus station and services, worth over 100 million euros, was reduced to five million euros. This is the amount a fictitious buyer, Matijević, paid for the properties, which were intended for Andrej Vučić.

Through this bankruptcy management, woven with crime and corruption, the investment was seized. Political pressure on judges of the Supreme Court in cases involving damage claims worth tens of millions of euros is actually protecting politicians from responsibility for breaching contracts. The longest period of contract violation was during the time Miloš Vučević was mayor ( through political pressure ). All of this is allegedly packaged as being in the national interest, from which the Vučić family profits. Their network of associates is actively buying and seizing transport companies and bus stations across Serbia for a pittance ( Comparison of the Novi Sad and Belgrade Bus Stations). )

Let me remind you, before the current government came into power, it and Šarić's criminal clan had the same "business logic", and I fear that the president and his people might end up like that drug cartel. In any case, the investments Serbia had from 2012 to 2024 should be thoroughly investigated—money flows, public procurement, prices, the companies that performed the works, their business backgrounds, the quality of the works completed, and, in the end, Serbia's indebtedness. This is the job for the prosecution.

ILIJA DEVIĆ, INVESTOR OF ATP "VOJVODINA"